Facial tics are characterized by impulsive, apparently unintentional muscle contractions of entire muscle groups in the face and neck region. These contractions are frequently recurring in nature, and appear to have no actual purpose. Most tics are exaggerated eye blinking, squinting, nose wrinkling, facial grimacing or even vocalizations such as grunting or throat clearing. Tics often manifest themselves during childhood, and often resolve as a child ages. This is not always the case, though, and many people continue to exhibit tics as they enter adulthood.

Tics often increase in rate of recurrence as a sufferer feels stress or discomfort. Victims who suffer from tics tell us that they are often aware of an impending tic. It’s often described as an overwhelming feeling of tension and the compulsion to engage the tic to break the tension; somewhat akin to the approaching urge to yawn or sneeze which relieves the person. Trying to control a tic can trigger stress, which can lead to the beginning of another tic. Tics are often described as being involuntary but research and reports from victims indicates they are indeed voluntary motions that can be controlled by the victim.

A tic can manifest itself as a simple tic, as in mouth twitches, grunting or facial grimaces or it can be more complex such as is seen a lot in Tourette syndrome. Simple tics are more usual than complex tics, but can be just as disturbing to the sufferer; while a facial tic does not cause physical pain to the victim, it often triggers social problems or mental distress.

Children, in particular, can have a hard time living with a tic because of mocking from other children, or teachers who don’t fully realize the tricky situation the child is in. While tics are often described as not being totally involuntary, control of a tic is difficult to establish, especially for children. Children often do not establish the skills to become aware of a tic onset as well as an adult.

Adults can also face crucial trouble in their lives when living with a facial tic. Social problems are quite common, and even when tics are generally controlled the adult can become very exhausted by the persistent need to identify the onset of and control the tic impulse. Adults and children alike may suffer from self-confidence issues due to their continual suffering from a disease that often causes them to become social outcasts.

Relieving a person of the anxiety of a facial tic can change that person’s life. Self-worth generally improves, and social anxiety is no longer an issue holding a person back from experiencing a full life. In children, relieving a tic may let the child develop with less tension while he/she has a happier childhood.

Over the years, many treatments for tics have been used with varying degrees of success. Psychotherapy or counseling can help discover the emotional causes of a tic, and may help someone understand better how to combat the urge to do their tic. Sedatives and other forms of medication sometimes do well in cases of simple tics. These meds often come saddled with negative side effects, so many people search for alternative treatments.

Hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) methods have been created expressly for the purpose of overcoming tics. Since facial tics are not strictly unconscious in nature, these treatments aim to change the sufferer’s unconscious response to the onset of a tic episode such as facial grimacing or throat clearing. In a large number of cases this can be accomplished by allowing the unconscious mind to stop the onset of the tic. In some extreme cases, however, the victim’s response will be redirected to some innocuous portion of the body such as twitching a toe instead of facial muscles.

Facial tics can be an uncomfortable life-affecting woe. Children and adults alike can suffer greatly from the presence of a facial tic such as eye blinking, squinting, mouth twitches, facial grimaces, nose wrinkling, or grunting. Eliminating a facial tic can prove very valuable to the victim on an emotional level.

Although lots of treatments have been created to fight against facial tics, NLP and self-hypnosis aim to utilize natural unconscious methods of redirecting the tic response. This type of therapy has great benefit over other methods such as psychotherapy, which may not help the tic behavior at all, or attempt to change the conscious response to tic behavior.

NLP and self-hypnosis also do not experience the unwanted side effects of drugs. This beneficial method of treatment can also cut tension and anxiety in the victim’s life, thereby both reducing the impulse to form a tic and proving an advantage in everyday life. Due to these factors, NLP and self-hypnosis are often the safest, most preferred methods of treatment for tic sufferers.

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